Likutay Moharan - Torah-teaching 103

103

All who withhold halachah from a student — it is as though he robs him of the inheritance of his fathers

[In the language of the friends] It is stated in the Gemara (Sanhedrin 91b): “Anyone who withholds halachah from the mouth of a student — it is as though he robs him of the inheritance of his fathers,” as it is written: “Moshe commanded us the Torah, an inheritance of the congregation of Yaakov” [Deuteronomy 33:4].

And when Moshe saw that the children of Reuven and the children of Gad were discouraging the heart of the Children of Israel from taking possession of the inheritance of their fathers, for this reason he called them “A culture of sinful men” [Numbers 32:14]. And Onkelos translates: “Students of guilty men.”

This matter you have received from your rabbis — that your rabbi robbed you of halachot. And halachot are the inheritance of the fathers, as stated above. And now, you too are walking in the ways of your fathers, desiring to rob Israel of the inheritance of their fathers.

And in the first chapter of Bava Batra (8b), it is taught: “And those who make the many righteous are like the stars” [Daniel 12:3] — these are the teachers of children.

And now that Moshe saw that they were bringing guilt upon the many by discouraging the hearts of the Children of Israel, presumably their rabbis too were not among those who make the many righteous, but rather among those who bring guilt upon the many. For this reason he called them “A culture of sinful men,” and Onkelos translated: “Students of guilty men.”